Tag Archives: turntables

Audio-Technica ATLP120 USB Turntable

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At a recent Paisley Babylon gig at the Horror Society’s two-day film festival in Chicago, I did an all-horror related live mashup and turntablist multimedia set using a pair of Audio-Technica ATLP 120 USB turntables. I am pleased to say these Audio-Technica turntables worked quite well and give me good, consistent performance.

I took delivery of three of these AT USB turntables back in the middle of summer, but hadn’t had a chance to put them through their paces in a live setting until October when I started doing DJ Paisley Babylon gigs and performing Paisley Babylon Beautiful Chaos shows.

I am a big believer in these turntables after having used them in my October gigs here in Chicago. In spite of the weight–the AT120LP USB turntables have a built-in pre-amp so you can select line-level output or phono output–these were wonderful.

Perfectly suited for my needs as I was feeding line-level out from the turntable into an echo unit for life dub and mashup effects I could hold in my hand and make a big goofy show out of using. It’s a hell of a lot of fun to manipulate vinyl in this way!

My only gripe with these turntables has to do with the switch for selecting line out or phono out. Beware when transporting them as the switch is in the rear of the unit and is susceptible to breaking off if it gets jammed up against other gear as you’re transporting to short distance gigs. I threw mine in the back of the vehicle too close to my vinyl crates and one pothole and a jostle took out the switch on turntable #3. My fault for not packing more carefully, but something to keep in mind.

At the end of the day I can highly recommend the Audio-Technica ATLP120 USB turntable. It has much going for it and I’ll be getting good use of these for a long time to come.

The Turntabling Posterous Site

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Turntabling.net is now updating on Posterous.com, which is an app I’ve known about for some time but never tried anything with until now. I’m  still learning the ins and outs of this interesting service which lets you do blog posts and updates via e-mail.
It seems quite handy so far and I’m quite pleased with the ease of setup and the fact that it will convert seemingly any type of media including video and MP3s. You might see a hiccup or two in this space as I test the features out but all should settle back down to normal soon-ish.

–Joe Wallace

Can You Sell Vinyl on CD Baby?

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new vinyl

A while back, I sent a query out to CDBaby asking about the possibility of selling a vinyl album or in addition to digital downloads and compact discs. Vinyl junkies take note, the official word from CD Baby is good news–vinyl is most welcome. From the CD Baby rep, Deena:

“Sure, we can list vinyl at CDBaby. We prefer if it matches an album on CD that is already for sale or will be for sale here, but isn’t required. Just makes things easier for the set up, as you’ll see.”

According to CD Baby, if you already have an album for sale on CD Baby and want to start selling vinyl copies, all you have to do is send five copies (contact CD Baby directly for details about sending more for in-store distro, etc.).

Vinyl submitted as a “stand alone submission” (as in, there are no other formats to be sold) must be signed up in the same way as a new CD or digital download. You’ll need a UPC code or you can purchase one from CDBaby. Again from the rep:

“Then, we’ll need an audio cd that matches the audio on the record so that we can post your clips and/or digitally distribute the album. You can send that with the first five records you send us. Please keep in mind, we might have to take a different cut than $4 per physical copy sold, shipping costs are sometimes more than it is for CDs.  We’ll have our receiving manager check it out once it arrives.”

Don’t forget about the cover art!  Just like with CD Baby CDs, you’ll need to send  a 1000 x 1000 pixel tiff file at 300dpi (with no compression) to CD Baby. This is great news for anyone who wants to get more ears on their vinyl release but doesn’t know where to start with distribution, etc. This CD Baby page has plenty of information on signing up and getting started. And, yes, Turntabling Records does have some material distributed via CD Baby, including all the titles found in the upper right corner of our site under “Download Turntabling Records albums”



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How to DJ Advice

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Turntabling (the blog) is all about vinyl–everything connected to the collecting, playing, archiving and culture associated with vinyl.

I know the drive-in culture thing I am so obsessed with in these pages seems a bit of a stretch, but since I cut my teeth with vinyl when these things were growing up right alongside in 70s and 80s culture, it seems a natural to me.

But some days, it’s all about the act of mixing together the tunes and keeping people interested in your mix. The DJ aspect doesn’t get nearly as much face time here, but I do like to dispense a bit of my insider knowledge from time to time.

Today I stumbled across another one of those How To DJ sites, but this one actually had some decent information. Sound advice there, especially when it comes to trying to feel out an audience and know what works and what doesn’t.

My main gripe with how-to-DJ advice is that you can’t really learn how to spin music without DOING it. And then there’s only so far you can go before you need to have an actual audience. Want to see how fast you can clear a dance floor? How about how long it takes to bring those feet back onto that floor? You have to learn by doing. Continue reading How to DJ Advice →